Tesla's plan from the beginning has been straightforward: Release an expensive sportscar (the Roadster) and use the money from its sales to build a couple of mid-range vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X SUV. Then use the money from those vehicles to build a low-cost electric car for the masses.
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That strategy reached fruition last Thursday when Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Model 3, which will ship next year. Within 24 hours, more than 180,000 people had plunked down $1,000 to reserve one of the cars. As of April 2, preorders stood at 276,000 — more than the total sales of all previous Teslas to date, as this chart from Statista shows.
Now, all Tesla has to do is actually build them.
